A New Beginning
by Weasleywizard19
Summary: Life goes on after the war, how will Ron and Hermione's life be through the years and what ups and downs will they go through along the way? A pre-epilogue tale about family, friends and love. Rated M just incase for future chapters
1. Reality

**Authors note-** First off, I own nothing to do with Harry Potter, that is all down to the legend that is JK and I am merely a massive fan that loves her characters.

This is my first attempt at writing fan-fiction so I'm just testing it out to see how it goes! I love Ron and Hermione and I'm always imagining what their life would have been like once the war was over and before the epilogue. I don't really know where I'm going with this yet, I'll just see how it goes but in the mean time I'd be really grateful to get some feedback on this chapter so I know how I'm doing! Even if you think it's terrible please let me know, thank you in advance :)

If you don't like the way this is written, i.e too long paragraphs then please bare with the first 2 chapters. I've sorted this out now and have aimed to make it more readable with shorter paragraphs! I will update this and the next chapter to look the same as soon as I get a chance :)

**Reality**

It had been three nights since the end of the war. Three nights since Harry had finally killed Lord Voldemort and put an end to it all. The wizarding world, after years of horror, suffering and pain could finally begin to rebuild itself and become what it once was. He still couldn't believe it. It hadn't sunk in yet and he wasn't sure if it ever would. They were finally safe thanks to Harry. Of course he and Hermione had played a huge part in it all too. The three of them had already been approached by the Daily Prophet for interviews. 'Don't you want to tell the world your story? You three are heroes! You'll go down in history! If it wasn't for you we would all be doomed!' Yes, these were the words they had been met with when they protested against the idea. It still angered him to think that after only three days the Daily Prophet felt that it was the right moment for them to act like some sort of celebrities. Well he certainly wasn't ready to relive it and nor were Harry and Hermione. He never wanted to become famous for this. The past year had been the most horrific, terrifying and painful period of his life and he wasn't about to sit and tell some bloody nosey reporter all about it just to please the Daily Prophet. Just thinking about it all gave him shivers. He couldn't escape it all, even in his sleep. He was constantly waking up in a cold sweat having had a very vivid nightmare. He shuddered as a vision from the previous night came back to him… a blood curdling scream while he was locked up, unable to help her, looking on as she was tortured. The girl he loved and he was going to watch her die because he was too weak to save her…Hermione's screams had continued until they woke him up and he realised that it was him that was screaming and shouting. Drenched in sweat and violently shaking he had thrown up over the side of his bed before he realised that it had been a dream. Yes, Hermione had been tortured just days ago and the memory was still very strong in his head, but she was safe now and unharmed, asleep in her bed.

The sound of a floorboard creaking brought Ron out of his reverie and as he looked up his heart melted. If there was one good thing to come out of this whole horrific ordeal then it was this. After 5 years of fights, jealousy and heart break, he and Hermione had finally shared their first kiss on the night of the battle. He had never been entirely sure that she had felt the same way as him and that blasted locket certainly hadn't helped, constantly feeding his insecurities and making him feel worthless. But when she'd thrown herself at him in the room of requirement three nights ago, suddenly all his insecurities where gone, the world felt whole and he was the happiest man in the world. That was of course until Harry had abruptly brought him back to Earth and reminded them that they were currently in the middle of a battle.

As he looked up at Hermione now he couldn't quite believe his luck. The war was over and he finally had the girl of his dreams all to himself. She looked beautiful, wearing a simple black dress and heels as she walked towards him with a strange look upon her face that he couldn't quite place. Her eyes were wide and she had the smallest of smiles on her face but it wasn't a happy smile. On the contrary she looked as if she was on the verge of tears but was trying to keep it together. He reached out his arm to her and she sat next to him with her head resting against his chest.

'What were you thinking about?' She whispered.

'Just about how lucky I am to have you' he replied as he kissed her softly on the forehead.

She smiled at him, a tear forming in her eye, 'Ron, don't be silly, it's me that's the lucky one.' She paused then, staring at him, 'it'll be okay you know. It's not going to be easy but we'll get through today together, I'm here for you.'

At her words it suddenly hit him like a ton of bricks. Shit. Today was Fred's funeral. It wasn't like he had forgotten, there was no chance he could forget that. More like until that point he had been trying to block it out, trying to think of anything but this moment. He had tried so hard to distract himself for the last 3 days, seeking Hermione's company whenever he could, anything to avoid being alone with only his thoughts for company. This morning he had gotten ready in an almost dream like state, never truly thinking about what would happen once he was ready. But now as he looked down at the black dress robes he was wearing (he barely remembered putting them on), at his family gathering in the living room with varying looks of emptiness on their faces, as he saw the clock on the mantelpiece chime 11 o'clock and the noise of the knock on the back door he realised that this was it. Time had run out. He could no longer put it off, could no longer distract himself with other things or tell himself that it was not real, that this was all just a nightmare that he would wake up from. He couldn't find words to answer Hermione with so instead he took her small, warm hand in his and with a sense of determination and resolution he stood and walked towards the door. It was time for him to face up to the reality and lay his older brother to rest.


	2. Waking Up

**Authors Note- **Sorry for being so depressing for the last chapter and most of this one but I don't think that they would all have gone back to normal after everything that happened! I wanted to make it realistic and have Fred's funeral and everything. Anyway, hope you like this chapter, give me some reviews please :)

**Waking Up**

Fred's funeral had been awful. One of the hardest things that's he'd ever had to do in his life. As he and his older brothers carried the coffin into the church he had looked around at the faces of the people standing there. There were loads of them. Some faces he knew but many, he didn't recognise. How was it that after 18 years of his life, 18 years of knowing Fred, he had no idea who most of the people were that had come to pay their respects to him? He supposed that Fred had touched so many people along the way, with his sense of humour, kindness and way of speaking to people it was difficult for anyone not to like him. And then of course there was Weasley's Wizard Wheezes; the shop that Fred and George owned in Diagon Alley was infamous because of the many exciting joke products that the two of them had invented and had probably made the twins famous to almost every child in Britain. So this was the reason for the number of people then, they weren't here because they had known Fred personally. These people hadn't experienced the warmth of his heart or his hilarious stories. They had never known him properly. No, they had just bought some joke items out of a shop and turned up to his funeral as some 'claim to fame.' Maybe some of them had even hoped to catch a glimpse of the famous Harry Potter while they were here. For a moment, this made Ron angry, that so many of these people didn't really know or care about Fred, but as he looked round at their faces and saw the sadness etched upon all of them he realised that it didn't matter. Fred wouldn't have minded the reasons for all these people coming here, he would have just been glad of a bigger audience to show off in front of. In fact, it might even have made him happy to know that his products were such a success during the dark times in which they had sold them that he was famous enough to have random people come to his funeral.

Then there had been the speeches- George, his dad and Lee had taken it in turns to get up and talk about Fred and all the happy memories that they had of him, all the funny stories from when he was younger and all the trouble he and George had gotten into at Hogwarts, including of course, the huge firework display they had produced to annoy Umbridge before they had left the school in their 7th year. Many of the people in the seats had laughed a lot during the speeches. Ron couldn't bring himself to laugh, all he could think about was that Fred would no longer get into trouble along with his twin; he wouldn't be there to tease Ron about his relationship with Hermione or annoy their mum with their constant pranks. He couldn't see how George would ever be the same again either as he watched him talk about Fred with a dead, haunted look behind his eyes. George had been very quiet since the night of the battle, choosing to keep to his room most of the time and when he did emerge he had permanent red marks around his eyes. Ron couldn't blame him, of everyone that would miss Fred it was undoubtedly going to be hardest for George, his best friend and partner in crime since the moment of their birth. Ron had sat next to Hermione throughout the entire service and hadn't let go of her hand once, tears had silently poured down her face the whole time but she was here for him, like she said she would be. And Ron knew that he couldn't have got through it without her.

As someone said his name, Ron looked up into the face of his mother and realised that he had been staring into space, thinking about Fred's funeral for almost 10 minutes. He really needed to stop losing himself in his thoughts so often otherwise he would miss what was going on in front of him.

'Ron, I was saying that you should go and help your father bring some drinks through for everyone' she said kindly.

Right, of course, they were back at the Burrow along with the family and some of their closest friends to 'celebrate Fred's life' or some shit like that. As if anyone felt like celebrating. He almost laughed at the irony of it all, a celebration was meant to be happy and cheerful, yet here they all were looking thoroughly depressed and half of them close to tears. But it was his mum's idea and if it helped her and made her feel better then he would suck it up and look happy. So he managed half a smile as he replied to her, 'yeah, sure mum, no problem.'

His dad was already in the kitchen pouring out glasses of firewhisky, butterbeer, pumpkin juice and whatever else he could find in the cupboards. He looked up as Ron walked into the room, setting down the bottle he had been about to open.

'Mum told me to come through and help you,' he said not fully meeting his dad's eyes. He was scared of what he might find behind them if he looked anyone directly in the eyes, to see the pain and suffering reflected back at him would be too hard.

'Okay Ron. Um…I couldn't help but notice - I mean - you and Hermione have become rather close,' it wasn't a question, merely an observation that he wanted to speak to his son about.

'Em, yeah. Well, you know - we... uh - yeah.' Ron's ears started to burn and go red as he looked at the floor; he really didn't feel comfortable talking about this with his dad. They didn't usually talk about things like this.

It was clear that Arthur was not entirely comfortable with the conversation either as he was also looking at a spot on the floor near his feet but he carried on regardless. 'Well I just wanted to say that – um - I'm happy for you son. You've got yourself a good one there! And, it's nice that we've got a bit of happiness in the family after everything…well, you know.'

Ron hadn't been expecting that, he looked up to see his dad giving him a praising smile. 'em, thanks dad. Sh- shall we take these drinks through now?'

He was glad that his dad was happy about his new relationship with Hermione but he certainly didn't enjoy talking about it. He only hoped that his mum wasn't about to make a big speech about it too. He'd rather fly on the back of a dragon again than talk to his mum about feelings and stuff.

Everyone had left the Burrow and the bottles of drink were significantly reduced- there had been a whole lot of toasts to Fred. The remaining Weasleys, plus Harry and Hermione who were staying with them, were tidying the Living room, picking up empty bottles and dirty glasses when Ron realised that someone was staring at him from across the room. He looked up and realised that it was Hermione, looking slightly bleary eyed (he didn't think she'd had that much to drink) and smiling slightly at him. He walked over to her; his head feeling a little woozy (he'd had a few firewhiskeys) and put an arm round her waist.

'Admiring the view were you?' he asked her with a cheeky glint in his eye. The drink along with the chats with his friends and family about Fred had made him feel more relaxed than he had done in months. He was beginning to feel like he could be happy again at some point. Maybe his mum had had the right idea with this celebration. She had said that muggles often did this sort of thing after funerals and that they called it a 'wake.' Well it had definitely 'woken' him from the depression he'd felt over the last few days. Damn, why did she always have to be right?

'It just makes me happy to see you interacting with your family again. I've been worried about you since Fred – well – since that night,' said Hermione.

'Yeah, I feel a lot better tonight, dunno if it's just the drink,' he smiled then looking down at her. 'Speaking of drink, how much did you have? You look a bit tipsy Miss Granger.' He pressed his thumb against her nose as she giggled.

'I only had a few glasses of butterbeer! But you know what I'm like; they just go straight to my head!' She was trying to be serious but the effect didn't quite work as she stumbled slightly and fell forwards onto Ron's chest.

He caught her and laughed, 'I think you're cute when you're drunk.' He said as he bent down and kissed her lightly on the lips. She was caught by surprise and deepened the kiss as she pushed her body right up against his.

He was conscious then of a number of eyes on his back so he took her by the hand and gestured that they should go upstairs.

As they reached Ron's bedroom he became aware of how this must look to Hermione. He had just said that he liked it when she's drunk, kissed her and then dragged her by the hand to his bedroom. He groaned inwardly as this thought spread through his mind. He wanted her to think he was thoughtful and a gentleman, not some sex-mad animal. Not that they had actually had sex yet of course. It had only been a few nights since they had first kissed and what with how shit he'd been feeling about Fred's death and the fact that the house was constantly filled with people, there hadn't been any time for anything more than the odd kiss here and there since then. But now here they were on his bed, her head leaning against him while he put her arm round her. Bloody hell. Hermione Granger was on his bed. Not even in his wildest dreams did he think that this moment would actually happen. Yet here she was, quite relaxed and content as she trailed her finger over his hand and up his arm. The feeling was giving him shivers and sending jolts to the lower region of his abdomen. He tried hard not to think about that as he thought he might die of embarrassment if his feelings were to present themselves in that part of his body. Now that he was here with her he was starting to think that this was an extremely bad idea. What would she be expecting from him after being dragged to his empty bedroom? He wasn't sure if she was ready to go that far with him yet but then again she hadn't protested to coming to his room. What did that mean? Then he remembered that she had been drinking and he cursed at himself, he couldn't very well do anything now! It would feel as if he'd taken advantage of her. But then how would he get her to go back to her room without hurting her feelings, would she be disappointed? Fuck! Why was it all so confusing?! Just as the stress of the situation was beginning to get to him and his heart rate was rising, Hermione sighed contentedly against his chest and he thought he might explode as he felt the vibrations from her throat rumble through his body.

'This is nice' she said happily, continuing to run circles up his arm with her fingers.

'Yeah' he managed to squeak out. Damn, she was hardly doing anything and he was getting turned on. What kind of pervert was he?

'But I think I should probably go back to Ginny's room now and go to bed.'

'What – why?' He was confused, had he done something wrong?

'Well Ronald, I don't think your mother would be too happy if she found me in your bed would she?'

'Oh, yeah. S'pose you're right.'

'Besides, Harry won't want to go to his bed if we're in here. And the only bed free would be the one next to Ginny,' she said giving him a wry smile.

'Oh! Yeah, well you'd better get back to your bed then. I mean - it wouldn't be fair to chuck Harry out. No need for him to sleep somewhere else…' That was the last thing he wanted, Harry was his best friend but the idea of him and his sister in the same room…well it wasn't an idea that he wanted to think about.

Hermione laughed then, gave him a kiss and left the room leaving Ron feeling slightly resentful that he couldn't get some proper time alone with her. Then he remembered that they were planning to go to Australia next week to bring Hermione's parent's home and restore their memories. It would be just the two of them going and he wondered if he could maybe even persuade her to hold off going to her parent's house so they could get a few hours by themselves first…maybe even a whole night? With this thought in mind he fell asleep and had his first nightmare free night since the end of the war.


	3. Goodbyes and Warnings

**A/N **Hi everyone, first off I'm sorry about how long it's taken me to post an update! But I wrote so much this time that I decided to make it into 2 chapters. So the good news is that the next one will be up very soon! :)

Thank you to everyone who has read/ favorited/ followed me or the story/ reviewed this story! It really means a lot to me :)

I've tried to listen to my lovely reviewer and make this chapter a bit more readable by having more paragraphs, so hopefully this is better!

**Goodbyes and Warnings**

Ron awoke suddenly just as the sun was coming up. It took him a few minutes to remember where he was, the dream he'd had was so vivid that it was still etched into the back of his eyelids and for one horrible moment he thought he could still hear Hermione's screams. Giving himself a shake he looked over and saw Harry lying on his back, mouth wide open and fast asleep.

'It was just a dream', he thought to himself. He really needed to pull himself together some time soon. There were only so many times a bloke could wake up from a nightmare drenched in sweat before feeling like a right little wimp.

He decided that since he was awake he may as well get up and have a shower; there was never any point in him trying to resume sleep after waking up from those nightmares.

Besides, today was going to be pretty damn good. He and Hermione had finally got the plans together and had arranged a portkey that would take them to Australia to bring The Granger's home. He wasn't exactly sure what would happen when they found Hermione's parents, he knew that she was worried about it but didn't know what to say to help. All he knew was that it would be night by the time they got there, what with the time difference, and since they couldn't go marching up to their house at some un-godly hour they had decided to book themselves into a hotel for the night. Hermione had of course been the one to do all of this; he hadn't a bloody clue how to work any of that muggle technology that she used.

This meant of course, that he and Hermione would be alone…in a hotel room…for the whole night. This thought made him incredibly happy, and he was all too aware that the thought made his dick happy too as it gave a jolt every time he had thought about the hotel room over the past week since it was booked.

He was slightly worried about it all too. Although being alone with Hermione was exactly what he had been hoping for since just over a week ago when they'd first kissed, he wasn't sure about what they would do once they were alone and how far he should go. He knew that he wanted to have sex with her, didn't every bloke? But he wasn't sure if she was quite ready for that yet. Plus, he wasn't exactly 'experienced' in that area. Yeah, he and Lavender had snogged a lot and she was _always_ trying to get him to touch her boobs and everywhere else but he had always stopped it before he went too far. He still had no idea how he'd had enough self -control to stop himself when she'd practically been begging him for sex. The truth was that she wasn't Hermione and he could never have lived with himself if he had done that with Lavender.

He realised at this point that he was still standing under the water of the shower which had now gone cold and was in the process of turning it off when a loud bang on the bathroom door caused him to jump and slip, hitting his toe off the shower door.

"Oi, mate! Have you drowned in there or something?! You've been in there almost half an hour!" came the voice of Harry through the door.

"Piss off Harry! You've just gone and made me bang my bloody toe off this fucking door!"

"Oh, now now Ronald! Don't let your mother hear you talking like that, or your girlfriend for that matter haha," said Harry while chuckling at himself.

Ron wrapped the towel round himself and opened the door to find Harry standing with a smirk on his face.

"How did you know it was me in there anyway? It could have been my mum, how would you have felt then if you'd given her a near bloody heart attack eh?" he grumbled feeling more annoyed than he ought to be.

"Well you see, you weren't in your bed and your mum and everyone else are all downstairs so I used my detective skills and worked it out" laughed Harry.

"You're a dick," Ron said and he stomped off to his room, red faced and grumpy.

"Yeah but you love me anyway mate!" he heard Harry shout from upstairs.

He knew he wasn't really angry at Harry, as the pain in his toe subsided he thought to himself that he probably would have done the exact same thing to him and found it hilarious if Harry had hurt himself. 'Still a dick,' he mumbled to himself and then began thinking of ways to get his revenge as he got dressed.

When Ron entered the kitchen ten minutes later it was to the smell of bacon, eggs and sausages. His stomach gave a loud rumble announcing his arrival to the room and causing his mum to smile at him and immediately push him into a chair.

"Quickly, sit down Ron. Eat up, you've got a big day ahead of you and you'll need to be well fed," She said, piling food onto a plate and putting it in front of him.

Hermione and Ginny were across the table from him, already started on their significantly smaller portions of food. He gave Hermione a quick smile and mouthed 'morning' to her before tucking into his huge breakfast. This was something he was definitely going to miss while they were away, he wasn't sure what Hermione's mum's cooking was like but if it was anything like her daughter's well…he had put up with Hermione's terrible cooking for months, he wasn't sure he could go back to that kind of food again.

'Better stock up while I can,' he thought, and he piled a few more sausages onto his plate.

"What was all that noise I heard up the stairs dear? It sounded like you and Harry were shouting," said his mum with a concerned look on her face.

"Just Harry being an arse," he replied with his mouth full of food.

"Watch your mouth! And-"

"-Don't talk with your mouth full," Hermione finished the sentence for his mum.

Ron rolled his eyes at the pair of them and returned to his plate. Hermione was picking up way too many of his mum's habits for telling him off. If he wasn't careful he was going to end up with a girlfriend who was exactly like his mum. He shuddered at that and decided that this was just one more reason why going to Australia for a few days would be a good thing for them.

Just then Harry came in and sat at the table next to Ron.

"How's the toe?" He said turning to face him with a sly grin on his face.

"Still sore you toss pot," said Ron and he threw a bit of sausage at him which hit Harry right on the nose.

"Ron, for goodness sake, are you a toddler? Don't throw your food!" said his mum looking cross.

"Sorry," Ron grumbled, his ears going red.

This just satisfied Harry even more and he winked at him while wagging a finger in a mock disapproving way.

Hermione was smirking at them both from across the table, "have you finished packing Ron? The portkey leaves at 11 so we need to be ready."

"Umm yeah I reckon I've got most of it done…just a few things to go in…" he trailed off hoping that she couldn't tell he was lying. He had meant to pack a few days ago but it had completely slipped his mind and it was only now that he realised he had an empty rucksack waiting on him in his room.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Honestly Ron, do you think I'm thick? I knew you hadn't packed at all so I've gathered most of your things together and they're lying on my bed. You'll just need to get some of your underwear and your toiletries. Think you'll manage that?"

He didn't know whether to feel grateful that she'd packed all his stuff for him, amused that she knew him so well or annoyed that she was talking to him like he was stupid.

"Aw thanks Hermione, what would I do without you?" He smiled over at her and praised himself inwardly when he saw the beaming smile she returned him. Giving her compliments was definitely the way to please her. 'And it might even get me lucky,' he thought with a grin.

It was 10 minutes to 11, the bags were finally packed and Ron and Hermione were standing in the garden saying their goodbyes before taking the portkey to Australia.

"Now be careful won't you?" his mum was saying to him with a tear in her eye, "look after each other!" She pulled him in for a surprisingly strong hug considering how much bigger than her he was.

"Yeah, don't worry mum, we'll be fine. We'll find Hermione's mum and dad tomorrow, reverse the spell and we'll be back before you know it," Ron said, not entirely believing his own words. He had a feeling it might not be that easy, but he wasn't about to say that out loud.

He moved onto his dad who looked strangely sombre, he was just about to ask what the problem was when he pulled him in close and spoke quietly into his ear.

"Watch yourself out there Ron, I've heard some nasty rumours about death eater activity that went on over in Australia during the last year. I haven't heard anything about Hermione's parents being involved but just make sure you look after her. It might not be the happy reunion you're expecting over there." He pulled away from him and gave Ron a brief smile before patting him on the back and announcing that he had to return to work.

Ron didn't know what to make of what his father had just said to him but there was barely time to think about it before Ginny threw herself at him and told him to have a good time. He grasped hands with Harry, said goodbye and then took Hermione's hand as they walked out of the garden gate to the point where the safety enchantments broke and they could safely travel by portkey.

He took the old glove out of his pocket that his dad had given him that morning from the ministry. "Are you ready?" He asked Hermione, still running over his dad's words in his mind.

"Yes, let's just get it over with," she replied with a tentative smile.

The glove began to glow a blue colour and they both placed their hands on it, ready to go. Ron felt that familiar hook-like sensation pulling him forwards, his head was spinning uncontrollably and then suddenly it stopped. He was on his feet, completely still and looking out onto a darkened street lit only by the occasional orangey glow here and there of the street lights.

Ron knew that Hermione's parents were living in a house somewhere in Melbourne but he had no idea where, he guessed that Hermione had picked out a hotel not too far away from the place they were staying. He glanced around him to find the hotel they would be staying in and immediately noticed the huge building reading 'Travel lodge' across the very top, which was a long way up.

"Woah, is this where we're staying? It looks brilliant!" his neck was starting to ache from looking up so far so he turned to face Hermione and noticed she was glancing at a map. "It must have cost a lot though," he frowned, thinking. "You didn't tell me how much this place was Hermione, how much am I due you?"

"Hm- oh sorry, what was that? Oh, no Ron it's fine. It's only a travel lodge, it wasn't expensive, honestly." She smiled at him and reached out for his hand, "besides, I paid for it in muggle money so I don't know exactly how much it would be in wizarding money."

He still didn't feel happy about her paying for him and it must have shown on his face because she placed her hand on his cheek and said: "seriously Ron, don't worry about it. You being here with me is all I want so you've already paid me back in a way. I don't want your money, just you."

She reached up and kissed him, running her fingers through his hair at the same time. He placed his hands on her waist, returning the kiss enthusiastically and teasing her lips with his tongue.

"Mmm, Ron", she hummed against his mouth. "Come on, we should go inside, I'm freezing."

She pulled away from him and headed towards the hotel leaving him standing in the street with ruffled hair, red ears and a blank memory as to why he was annoyed with her. 'Merlin, she's good,' he thought. 'Knows exactly how to soften me up.'

**A/N - I hope my characterisation is okay and you guys don't think I've completely ruined your favourite characters! So let me know if you have any issues with it :) P.s If you're here for the 'M' rating then stay tuned for the next chapter when there will be some of that! ;)**


	4. Testing the Bed

**A/N **Hi all! Thanks again to everyone who's read/ favourited the story, really means a lot. Apologies in advance for some of the cringey stuff in this chapter, I honestly never knew I had it in me! haha

Warning! There is mature content in this chapter so don't carry on if you're too young!

**Testing the Bed**

The hotel room was amazing. Ron couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the _huge _double bed placed in the middle of a large room that had a large window on one wall with a brilliant view out to the city. Even the bathroom looked pretty luxurious compared to his standards.

"Wow, this is fantastic Hermione! Nice work love," Ron said as he dived onto the bed to test its bounciness. "Good bed too!" He shouted over to her.

"Honestly Ron, you're mental," said Hermione rolling her eyes at him. "I'm going to freshen up, I'll be out in a minute," she said, picking up her rucksack and strolling into the bathroom.

Ron lay back on the bed and looked around the room. His eyes fell on the black screen opposite the bed. He had heard about these things from Dean Thomas, his old roommate at Hogwarts. It was called a TJ or something like that and you could watch people talking or fighting on it. Dean had said that you could even watch people having sex! 'Brilliant' he thought, 'wonder how it works.'

He went over to the TJ to see if there were any instructions on how to work it but all he saw was a long black thing with buttons all over it. He noticed one big button on the TJ so he pressed it and was immediately satisfied as colours appeared on the screen. Smiling at his own genius he went back over to the bed and settled down to see what was happening.

He heard the bathroom door burst open and saw Hermione come out, bag in hand and wearing a pair of loose, red shorts and a white t-shirt which he realised (with a sudden jolt to his lower regions) had no bra underneath and he had a plain view of her nipples through the fabric. Her hair was tied in a loose bun on top of her head with a few strands falling onto her face. She looked absolutely gorgeous and Ron couldn't help but be terrified at the thought of being so close to her all night. He didn't know how he could control himself if they were alone, sharing a bed and she looked like _that_.

"Is something wrong?" Hermione said looking worried.

"Uh, what? No, nothing's wrong," he replied, ears burning.

"So why were you staring at me? Do I have toothpaste on my face or something?"

"I- what? You don't have toothpaste…um…I w-wasn't staring," he trailed off lamely, staring at the floor and feeling his face burn up.

She laughed and climbed up onto the bed beside him, "it's ok Ron, I don't mind you staring at me, it's flattering really," she smiled up at him through her lashes and his heart melted.

"Ha, sorry. I can't help it, you just look so, um, nice," he replied to her. 'Holy shit, why did I just say that?' he thought. '_Nice?_ Am I mental? That's the understatement of the century!'

She moved so that she was leaning against his chest and he put his arm round her shoulder, not quite believing his luck after coming out with that rubbish.

"What's on?" She asked, gesturing to the TJ.

"Not a clue, but I think I quite fancy getting one of these TJ's you know. Dean told me about some of the wicked stuff you can watch on it."

"Ron, what did you just call it?!" She asked, turning to face him with a huge grin on her face. "A TJ?!" She was laughing hysterically now. He felt like a prat.

"Emm, is that not what it's called then?" His ears were burning again, bloody hell, why did that keep happening?

"It's a TV! Aww Ron, that's sweet," Hermione choked out between giggles.

"Well how the bloody hell am I meant to know? I don't know these daft muggles things do I?" He said, climbing off the bed and grabbing his rucksack. "I'm going to get changed," and he stormed into the bathroom.

Once inside he quickly pulled on his shorts, brushed his teeth and sat down on the edge of the bath with his head in his hands. He was so annoyed at himself. 'Why do I always have to ruin it?! He thought 'what the fuck did I just give her such a hard time for? Over a bloody TV! I bet she hates me now! This was meant to be our chance for some quality alone time and I have to go and bloody wreck it within half an hour.'

Pulling himself together, he grabbed his things and walked back out the door to face whatever was waiting for him on the other side. He chanced a glance over to Hermione; she was still sitting on the bed, staring at the TV and looking like she was close to tears. Damn, he'd upset her.

"Uh Hermione?" He started. She didn't turn round but gave a feeble nod of the head to show she was listening. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten angry at you. I don't even know why I did. I just felt like a prat when you were laughing at me and well, now you probably think I'm a prat for shouting. Fuck. I really am sorry. I don't blame you if you want me to go straight back home." He said, looking at her the whole time. She still hadn't turned round so he picked up his bag and headed for the door. "Right, I get it. I'll just go." He turned to leave and then heard her gasp behind him.

"What are you doing? Don't be so ridiculous Ron. Of course I don't want you to go!" Hermione said, her voice an octave higher than usual. "Look, I'm sorry if you thought I was making fun of you but I was only having a laugh! Don't leave me again Ron." She said, losing control as tears started spilling over onto her cheeks.

"Aw shit," said Ron, dropping the bag and running over to the bed and pulling her into his arms. "I'm so sorry, this is all my fault. I over-reacted. Please don't cry sweetheart." He kissed the top of her head and stoked her back cursing at himself for being such an idiot.

"I just c-couldn't bare it if you l-left me Ron, not after l-last t-time." She was shaking against him as tears cascaded down her face and made the skin of his chest wet.

Then it hit him a like a dead weight, the reason she was so upset over the thought of him leaving. He'd hurt her so much when he left the tent during that argument so many months before. He hadn't realised until now how hard it must have been for her and he felt like the world's biggest arse for making her feel like that. And then he'd gone and brought it all up again just now by threatening to leave.

"Listen Hermione, I'm so sorry for leaving back then. I was a prat and I didn't think about how it would make you feel. I wish so much that I could change what I did but I can't. Just believe me when I say that I will _never _leave you again. I promise." He pulled her face up to meet his and wiped the tears away from her face. She seemed to be regaining control and the tears were stopping. That had to be a good sign. Then as he looked directly into the big brown eyes of the sweetest, kindest girl he'd ever met, he said something that he definitely never imagined would come out his mouth on that night, "I love you Hermione."

She abruptly stopped crying at his words and smiled. "You've never said that before. Do you mean it?" She asked, looking straight into his eyes.

"Of course I do love. I've known it for a long time," he replied tucking a loose curl of her hair behind her ear. He knew he meant it too, it had always been her, since that first day on the Hogwarts express she had been the only girl in his world. The one that drove him mental, that infuriated and angered him beyond anyone else but who also made him feel like the only guy in the room, she could melt his heart with one little smile and make him horny as fuck with a simple lick of her lips. She was without a doubt the only girl for him and he had finally realised it.

"Oh Ron, I love you too!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms round his neck and locking her lips onto his with such force that he lost balance and was thrown back onto the bed with her on top of him.

The abruptness threw him off for a second but not wanting to waste any more time he grabbed her waist and deepened the kiss with his tongue, exploring each other's mouths as he ran his large hands up and down her sides until they landed on the skin just below the bottom of her shorts.

She was tugging her hands through his hair and was planting kisses along his jaw and down to his chest. His erection was embarrassingly tenting his shorts and as she was straddling his hips, it wasn't exactly helping the situation. He knew she must be able to feel it through the thin fabric they were each wearing but it didn't seem to faze her in the slightest. On the contrary she was moving her hips against him in such a fashion that the friction was soon going to send him over the edge.

To avoid any awkward situations like that he pulled her over so she was on her back and he was leaning over her. She looked surprised at the abrupt change and was looking up at him with big eyes, her chest heaving because she was out of breath. Her top had hitched up to her belly button to reveal the soft, smooth skin underneath. Ron leant down to pull the band out of her hair so that it fell to fan out around her head. He placed his hand on the skin of her stomach and bent down to nuzzle his nose in her hair, smelling the familiar smells he always associated with Hermione; Mint, chocolate and washing powder. "Mmm, so beautiful," he whispered into her ear making her shiver slightly.

"Can I do something for you?" He asked, sounding a lot more confident than he felt.

"Do what?" She asked breathlessly and looking surprised at his question.

"Do you trust me?" Asked Ron leaning down to kiss her lightly on the lips which were still red and swollen looking from their earlier snogging session.

"Y-yes," she said looking a little taken aback. "Of course I do," she whispered, stroking her hand down his cheek and causing his eyelids to flutter closed.

"Well lie back," he said, gently pushing her head onto the pillow, "and relax sweetheart. I want to make you feel good."

He didn't have much of a clue about what he planned to do but he'd had 5 older brothers to teach him how to pleasure a girl and he wasn't a Weasley for nothing, so he leaned down and placed his lips on her stomach.

Slowly he trailed soft kisses up her skin until he reached the edge of her t-shirt that was now sitting just below her breasts. He began to lift the top off and when she didn't object but lifted her arms up, he slid it over her head and looked down at her body.

"Wow," he said, looking at her large breasts heaving and licking his lips unconsciously.

She was blushing at the way he was staring at her. "Ron, what are you – oh! – mmm, yesss," she hissed as his mouth made contact with her nipple and he began flicking his tongue across it.

Ron was in heaven, surely there was nothing better than sucking on Hermione Granger's nipple as she groaned and tugged at his hair. He was placing wet kisses all round her breast and then moved onto the other, taking the other nipple into his mouth as his hand fondled the one his mouth had left behind.

He was moving his hand lower, running it over the smooth skin of her lower abdomen until his fingers came to the waistband of her shorts. In a moment of nerve that he never thought he had, he pushed his hand into her shorts and found the soft curls that were there. He wasn't sure she'd even realised where his hand had gone, she was still moaning at the movements his mouth was making, but when she bucked her hips up into his hand he took the plunge and ran a finger along the soft, already wet, flesh that was there. She gasped and opened her eyes to look at him.

"I-is this ok?" He asked her, suddenly worried that he'd done the wrong thing.

"God, yes," she gasped and dug her fingernails into his shoulder.

He was so aroused by her that he didn't know how he held it together. The fact that prim and proper Hermione was totally coming undone at his touch was the sexiest thing he had ever seen. She was like an animal, the way she growled at him as he stroked her wet folds with two fingers.

He pulled her shorts all the way off to get a better view of what he was doing.

"Mm – Ron, don't stop!" Hermione cried out as his hands and mouth had now completely left her body in the process of removing her shorts.

"Shit, sorry darling," said Ron and he clambered back over her until their mouths were level. "You're so fucking sexy like this," he growled and he kissed her passionately before inserting a thick finger straight into her folds so that she hissed against his mouth and bucked her hips.

Ron was slowly moving his finger in and out as she gasped and moaned his name over and over. He knew there was a bit on a girl that he was meant to rub, or at least that was what George and Charlie had told him, so he searched with his thumb until he hit a bundle of nerves and earned a particularly loud moan from Hermione. He smiled at himself and felt a surge of pride that he was the only person to have ever made her feel like this. She was making these noises for him and his confidence soared at the thought.

He was slowly circling his thumb while thrusting his fingers in and out of her and she was gradually getting louder and becoming wilder. He began to move his head down her body, trailing kisses as he went until his head was level with his hand. He could smell her juices and was intensely tempted to taste them. Acting on impulse he dipped his head down and let his tongue touch the spot that his thumb was working. He gave it a flick and heard the loud gasp coming from Hermione as she realised what he was doing.

"Oh god Ron, yesss, keep doing that please…" said Hermione, her voice trembling with the pleasure that was coursing through her body.

Ron continued to suck and lick her clitoris while thrusting his fingers into her at a steady pace until she was screaming his name. Her knees clamped round his ears so that he was held in place and could do nothing but continue what he was doing and hope to god that she would release him before he ran out of breath and died. 'What a bloody brilliant way to die though' he thought.

Her hips were bucking erratically into his face, her fists were clenched into the bed sheets and her moans were becoming louder and louder until she screamed her loudest yet and finally relaxed her muscles around him.

Ron lapped up all the remaining juices she had to offer and moved back up beside her head.

"Wow, I don't want to know how you learned to do that but it was amazing," Hermione said patting the side of his face affectionately.

"Haha, believe me love, I didn't have a bloody clue what I was doing. But seriously, seeing you like that is the most gorgeous thing I've ever seen," he said pulling her into his chest under the covers.

She laughed, too tired to speak and snuggled up to him, her hair tickling his chin. Ron felt unbelievably lucky and with all worries about the Granger's forgotten, he drifted off into the most peaceful sleep he'd had since he returned from the battle of Hogwarts.

**A/N: So there you go! Hope you enjoyed it and leave me a review please :) **


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